Prohylesia zikani
Updated as per Lemaire's Hemileucinae 2002, February, 2008
Updated as per personal communication with Carlos Mielke (Parana), April 2008
Updated as per personal communication with Larry Valentine (Itanhandu, Minas Gerais, Brazil, August 23, 2009); February 21, 2011
Updated as per personal communication with Carlos Mielke (id of Larry Valentine moth), February, 2011
Updated as per Entomo-Satsphingia Jahrgang 5 Heft 2 22.06.2012 (female: fwl: 25-27mm); May 10, 2014
This page has been updated August 24, 2015, based on reference material for Argentina, sent to me by Ezequiel Bustos, as cited in a recent publication: N��EZ: Cat�logo preliminar de Saturniidae de Argentina TROP. LEPID. RES., 25(1): 22-33, 2015 31.
Updated as per personal communication with Lucius Rabello Vasconcellos (Itatiaia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, December 6, 2021); December 8, 2021
Updated as per personal communication with Maria Isabel Weyermanns (Reserva Aguas do Brilhante, Itajai, Santa Catarina, Brazil, April 3, 2021); December 9, 2021

Prohylesia zikani
Draudt, 1929

Male (wingspan: 39 mm), January, Sao Bento do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
courtesy of Eurides Furtado.

This site has been created by Bill Oehlke.
Comments, suggestions and/or additional information are welcomed by Bill.

TAXONOMY:

Superfamily: Bombycoidea, Latreille, 1802
Family: Saturniidae, Boisduval, [1837] 1834
Subfamily: Hemileucinae, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Tribe: Hemileucini, Grote & Robinson, 1866
Genus: Prohylesia, Draudt, 1929

DISTRIBUTION:

Prohylesia zikani (wingspan: males: 40-45mm; females: 51mm // forewing length: males: 19-23mm; females: 25-27mm) flies in
southeastern Brazil: lectotype designated from Santa Catarina (300-750m): Neu Bremen (RSL); Espirito Santo (850m), Bahia (BM&M), Sao Paulo (850m), Minas Gerais (925m, LV/CM), Parana (CM) and (possibly Rio de Janeiro (WO?)).

Ezequiel Osvaldo Nunez Bustos sent me a paper in August 2015 which includes Prohylesia zikani in northeastern Argentina.

In 2012, Brechlin & Meister described Prohylesia bahikani from Bahia, Brazil. I am not sure where the ranges of the two species end or whether they might overlap in some states. The adults are extremely similar.

Prohylesia zikani/bahikani male, Itatiaia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
December 6, 2021, courtesy of Lucius Rabello Vasconcellos.

Visit Prohylesia Comparison Chart.

Prohylesia zikani male, Neu Bremen, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
October 31, 1936, courtesy of Cornell University Collection, via Ryan Saint Laurent.

At first I thought the moth depicted below might be p. rosalinda, based on location of black streak in cell area, but Carlos Mielke indicates that is a very variable trait, and the moth from Itanhandu is Prohylesia zikani.

Prohylesia zikani male (zikani; CM), Itanhandu, Minas Gerais, Brazil,
August 23, 2009, 925m, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Prohylesia zikani male (zikani; CM), Itanhandu, Minas Gerais, Brazil,
August 23, 2009, 925m, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Prohylesia zikani male (zikani; CM), Itanhandu, Minas Gerais, Brazil,
August 23, 2009, 925m, courtesy of Larry Valentine.

Prohylesia zikani, Reserva Aguas do Brilhante, Itajai, Santa Catarina, Brazil,
April 3, 2021, courtesy of Maria Isabel Weyermanns.

FLIGHT TIMES AND PREFERRED FOOD PLANTS:

Moths are on the wing from December-March-April.

Larval hosts are unknown.

ECLOSION, SCENTING AND MATING:

Females extend a scent gland from the tip of the abdomen to call in the night-flying males. Most male activity occurs from 10:00 pm until shortly after midnight.

Prohylesia zikani female, 51mm, Bahia, Brazil,
on my home computer only.

Prohylesia zikani female, Brazil,
courtesy of Ulrich Weritz.

EGGS, LARVAE, COCOONS AND PUPAE:

Preohylesia zikani larvae are similar to Automeris larvae, being gregarious and having urticating spines.


Larval Food Plants


It is hoped that this alphabetical listing followed by the common name of the foodplant will prove useful. The list is not exhaustive. Experimenting with closely related foodplants is worthwhile.

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